What's the greatest TV series ever...?

[First Speaker]

...I admit, I haven't seen much of a lot of famous shows--ie, The Simpsons. The Wire. Breaking Bad. Mad Men. So maybe I shouldn't even comment...but if I had to choose, my list would include, first, Monty Python. Then The Sopranos, Fawlty Towers, some of the British mysteries--Prime Suspect, Sherlock, Morse, Endeavour, *and* Inspector Lewis--guess I have an Oxford fixation--and Poirot. The best of Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock. Some sheer indulgences--Night Court, Name of the Game, F Troop. Star Trek, especially TNG. X Files. Xena. The Blacklist. I could go on...but that's enough from me. How about the rest of you?

[akraven]

1. M.A.S.H. nt

[question everything]

11. +1

[MLAA]

25. +1

[pangaia]

17. I think you may be right.

Then THE HONEYMOONERS

[akraven]

20. That was my dad's very favorite, and I still remember the black and white version!

[flotsam]

22. 21. Not really

21. Not really

though several episodes featured reporters filming the unit in b&W. Mash premiered in 1972.Below is a snip on the changeover:

"Programs that had started prior to the 1965-1966 season, or premiered in black-and-white during it, were forced to convert to color at the start of the 1966-1967 season, when all three networks were broadcasting their entire prime time line-ups in color, aside from news specials and films originally shot in black-and-white (much of the daytime programming on ABC and CBS was still in black-and-white) [35].

Shows that had to convert from black-and-white to color included, among others: The Wild, Wild West on CBS, one season in black-and-white (1965-1966) and three seasons in color (1966-1969); Gilligan’s Island on CBS, one season in black-and-white (1964-1965) and two seasons in color (1965-1967); The Andy Griffith Show on CBS, five seasons in black-and-white (1960-1965) and three seasons in color (1965-1968); Twelve O’Clock High on ABC, two seasons in black-and-white (1964-1966) and one season in color (1966-1967); I Dream of Jeannie on NBC, one season in black-and-white (1965-1966) and four seasons in color (1966-1970); and Bewitched on ABC, two seasons in black-and-white (1964-1966) and six seasons in color (1966-1972)."

[akraven]

28. I was thinking of the Honeymooners when I posted it - not M.A.S.H.

Twelve O'clock High was another one of dad's. One TV, and it was his until he said otherwise! I remember him letting us kids tune in to the Smother's Brothers.

Oh, and I still adore Wild Wild West. We have the episodes on disk! I also remember the whistle song at the start of Andy Griffith. Because we were at KSC, didn't much care for IDOJ, it was just that dumb compared to the real thing.

[flotsam]

32. Yeah but you made me research the change over...

and there's nothing I like better than learning trivia! Cheers!

[akraven]

35. LOL! Sorry - I love this kind of stuff, so thanks for the post.

I saved it to see if hubby's memory is as good! He's a major TV fan.

[hlthe2b]

47. YUP... MASH

[Paladin]

75. I never thought the TV series was nearly as good as the movie.

The doctors in the movie never had to lay it on with a trowel about the absurdity of patching up young soldiers, just so they could be sent into battle again and risk being killed. And the TV series never had anything close to the movie's "He was drafted" line, which received a 5-minute standing ovation when I saw it for the first time in Austin. Alan Alda's liberal indignation was a little too much for this liberal.

[Goodheart]

119. MASH was OK until it ceased being a comedy

in its final years it got too preachy.

[blur256]

2. I love your British shows

I'm fact I bought Britbox to watch them. Currently watching Are You Being Served which is fabulous!

[MLAA]

27. Mr. Humphreys!

Add May December, Hyacinth and As Time Goes by to the list...oh and there was one called The good neighbor. All marvelous.

[blur256]

31. I love them all!

When I lived at home with my parents that was the lineup on pbs. I watched them every Saturday.

[MLAA]

34. I still have a coffee mug that says Grace Brothers from a PBS fundraiser back in the mid 90s.

[yellowdogintexas]

100. The Good Neighbors (aka The Goode Life) may be our all time favorite

We own it on DVD

[MLAA]

114. I loved the cheeky wife, the husband and those neighbors!

[bobbieinok]

132. British--Good Neighbors, To the Manor Born

[MLAA]

139. That's it!

[yellowdogintexas]

101. 'Allo, 'Allo should be next on your list if you love Grace Brothers. Same producer/writer. E

.
and crazier. Much much crazier

[GP6971]

3. I Love Lucy

would be in the top 10.

[Stuart G]

94. Yes, ..I Love Lucy..The Greatest TV Series Ever....Why?

There was so much talk about that show, that the talk actually got people to buy TVs. That is why. At some point, (not sure) it had perhaps the highest rating of people watching ever..That is, of people watching TV most were watching, " I Love Lucy" It was more than a pioneer, it was the, masterpiece that helped TV to evolve.
...Of course, if you were not alive then, you would not know the effect that the show had. And how many people talked about that show..

...another major one was..."Disneyland" which was basically an ad for the amusement park in LA. That one had an enormous rating too.............

ONE MORE SENTENCE, with a question, and very important....How do you define the term, "greatest? "

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

4. Sherlock.

[shanny]

43. That's got my vote.

My favorite scene was from the last season where a drug-addled Sherlock was shooting up his flat while quoting Henry V
.
.
.
and was subsequently disarmed by Mrs. Hudson.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

50. Never seen a TV series so well written, acted, and shot... just amazing!!

[Kablooie]

5. My Mother the Car.

Or ... maybe not.

[PJMcK]

76. It's the best worst show of all time (n/t)

[qazplm135]

6. the new Battlestar Galactica

I could watch it forever.

[dflprincess]

7. Boston Legal nt

[question everything]

13. This was great, too

[MLAA]

29. Oh, forgot about that one. Loved it. Denny ---Mad Cow.

[Sancho]

8. hmmmm.....and I watched all these for years....

Star Trek (and spin offs)
All My Children
Lawrence Welk
The Prisoner
WKRP in Cincinnati
Andy Griffith Show

and I'd agree with your Twilight Zone, Mad Men

.....current shows.....

Call the Midwife

[akraven]

92. Star Trek for sure, and WKRP was always a delight!

TNG was okay too!

[Ohiogal]

9. All In The Family

[Hoyt]

40. +1. Funny, insightful, and I believe it helped some white wingers see

how they might be wrong. It was so right for the time.

[Aristus]

10. The West Wing.

Nothing else even comes close, IMO...

[akraven]

15. +100!

What I wouldn't give for a Pres. Bartlett!

[Aristus]

26. Me too.

As long as I could be his Toby. I've got the beard, the bald head, and the quixotic outlook...

[elleng]

36. YES!

Watching the series for the 5th time NOW!!!

[Aristus]

45. The fifth time? Amateur!

I watch Seasons 1-4 twice a year, every year...

[Va Lefty]

12. I guess it depends on what you're looking for. Comedy, social commentary, drama, great acting etc

Comedy-I'll go with the first couple of years of The Beverly Hillbillies
social commentary- I go with MASH and the first 3 years of All in the Family
Drama-NYPD Blue and Columbo
Great acting-The Sopranos and BTVS

[brush]

14. Also Boardwalk Empire, Absolutely Fabulous, Rockford Files, Law and Order

Downton Abbey, Columbo, Bilko, 24.

[smirkymonkey]

23. AbFab!

Yes!

Also loved Downton Abbey and all the Law and Order shows.

[MLAA]

30. Ab Fab, such a hoot. and the movie version was great fun.

[TexasBushwhacker]

98. I love Law and Order

The original and Criminal Intent are my favorites.

[ADX]

16. "The Sopranos" and "The Wire"...

...followed by "Breaking Bad" and "Game Of Thrones...

[dameatball]

18. Andy Griffith, Twilight zone, Captain Kangaroo, Star Trek(original), I Love Lucy, Sesame Street

Note: MY lifetime. From when we got 3 channels until now.

[pangaia]

19. Lash Larue.

[FuzzyRabbit]

24. Hopalong Cassidy

The first western series on TV, first TV merchandising, biggest TV celebrity of the late 1940s and early 1950s, and set the standard for popularizing TV shows and actors. And all done in black and white film and with the worst theme music in TV history.

[rsdsharp]

82. Opening theme:

Here he comes, here he comes
Blare the trumpets, bang the drums, here he comes.

Hopalong Cassidy, here he comes.

(humming)

Closing theme:

There he goes, on his way,
Down the trail the cowboy way.
Hopalong Cassidy, Hopalong Cassidy.

He returns, soon again,
There's no use to say goodbye until then.

Hopalong Cassidy, so long Hopalong.

It's on Encore Westerns twice a day. I never saw it as a kid. I wasn't born until 1954, and we got our firt TV in 1957.

[mucifer]

33. Leverage is my favorite right now.

It's so campy and watching them take down evil corporate right wing organizations is a hoot!

[CatMor]

55. I agree with you about Leverage ...

my favorite too. Happy they are running it 4 days a week in my area. Love it.

[yellowdogintexas]

103. Leverage is one of my favorites

It reminds me of a very modern version of "The Rogues" which I LOVED when it was on years ago. Same premise - trick the bad guys to help someone else out

Clever plots and scams

[lkinwi]

37. The Dick Van Dyke Show

[thucythucy]

63. The episode with Danny Thomas--

a parody of Sci Fi movies, and the final western episode are classics.

Carl Reiner was wonderful as the egomaniac over-bearing boss, and the barbs between Buddy and Mel were always hilarious.

[lkinwi]

72. The sci-fi dream episode was the best!

[thucythucy]

84. "Either that, or we're in the Twi-Low Zone."

Danny Thomas was great in that, as were they all.

[yellowdogintexas]

102. known in our house as "the one with the walnuts" nt

[thucythucy]

130. And an eye in the back of the head.

Laura fussing with her hair while saying "I see you."

[thucythucy]

85. Then there was the one where Rob dips his hands in black ink

the same day he has to accept a civil rights award on behalf of the show.

The whole issue of "blackface" comes up in a 1962 comedy episode.

Not to mention the episode with Don Rickles as a stick up artist. Amazing stuff.

[Jane Austin]

116. Amen!

I watched the colorized special they ran in December and simply grinned and guffawed all the way through it.

It holds up very well.

I laughed so much my dogs got concerned about me.

[KPN]

38. Seinfeld -- hands down.

[3catwoman3]

39. The West Wing is masterful.

I did not see it when it originally aired. IIRC, it was on HBO, which we were not getting at that time. I happened upon the complete boxed set of all 7 seasons at a local Goodwill recently, and was hooked a few minutes into the first episode.

Other series in my list:
M*A*S*H
St. Elsewhere
Hill Street Blues and NYPD
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Star Trek TOS/ The Next Generation/ Deep Space 9/ Voyager

[Fla Dem]

78. Your list could be my list! 😀

All of theses were my favorites in their time. Would add
“ER”
Laverne & Shirley
Magnum PI (The original)
Cagney & Lacey
Cheers
Actually to many good ones to list anymore.

[badhair77]

83. I was waiting to see Mary Tyler Moore on the list - great character development.

[Totally Tunsie]

41. Frasier!

[Brother Buzz]

42. Toss-up between Maverick and Rawhide

Same can be said for their theme songs:

[Archae]

44. For nonfiction...

Nova. (Called "Horizon" in Great Britain.)

Been on the air for decades, and still going strong.

[JDC]

46. Lost, The Walking Dead until season 6-7 ish. Game of Thrones, The Wire,

Breaking Bad
The Wire when it came out
I really though Louis CK's show on FX was amazing; super original, creative and funny. But now with his issues, I kinda feel bad about saying it.
I also really like Parks and Rec. constantly hilarious.
The old Twilight Zone series is and was far ahead of its time and really prolific. (I think I am ranking this top of my list)
Dexter was good and through the first 4-5 seasons a favorite also
Sopranos
Mad Men
Homeland
The leftovers sucked me in H, L, sinker
X Files - The early years prior to reboot
Mr Robot was very original and good
I could go on forever and left off so many great shows... too much good TV and it has gotten so much better in the last 8-10 years.

[NightWatcher]

48. Alf

[90-percent]

49. Mystery Science Theatre 3000

n/t

[Number9Dream]

107. Looked forward to each MST3K like no other show

We would look forward to MST3K all week, and then VCR tape it for additional viewing. Still maintain a VCR for those tapes.

[Cousin Dupree]

51. Deadwood

[Mme. Defarge]

52. Law and Order

original series.

[greatauntoftriplets]

53. M*A*S*H

Then there's St. Elsewhere, Downton Abbey and Doc Martin.

[RHMerriman]

54. Twilight Zone under Serling...

NOTHING on American network television has ever come close in terms of presenting truly liberal ideas via the arts.

[rurallib]

93. "Rod Serling's little morality plays" I once saw it described as

far and away my favorite.

[RHMerriman]

97. Indeed ... and not just as an artist

“It's simply a national acknowledgement that in any kind of priority, the needs of human beings must come first. Poverty is here and now. Hunger is here and now. Racial tension is here and now. Pollution is here and now. These are the things that scream for a response. And if we don't listen to that scream - and if we don't respond to it - we may well wind up sitting amidst our own rubble, looking for the truck that hit us - or the bomb that pulverized us. Get the license number of whatever it was that destroyed the dream. And I think we will find that the vehicle was registered in our own name.


[from a Commencement Address at the University of Southern California; March 17, 1970]”
― Rod Serling

[thucythucy]

56. The Prisoner

One season British TV series, surreal, political, unlike anything that came before.

And I absolutely loved "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

[klook]

61. Orange Alert!

Loved The Prisoner. Patrick McGoohan is certainly in the running for Coolest Dude Ever.

[yellowdogintexas]

104. currently on Hulu by the way

or maybe Netflix or Amazon .....

[klook]

109. Thanks! I'll check. (nt)

[Cicada]

57. The Wire, second choice Deadwood

[TygrBright]

59. The Wire. n/t

[AJT]

60. 2 obscure, short lived comedies:

Better Off Ted
Testees

[area51]

62. A couple of favorites come to mind

Original Dark Shadows and Firefly.

[NoMoreRepugs]

64. Mad Men, Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad.

Not necessarily in any order.
Sopranos had too many weak supporting actors IMO.
Deadwood is certainly worth mentioning.

[KT2000]

65. NYPD Blue and

House, Blacklist, Twilight Zone
British: As Time Goes By, Vera, Endeavor, Grantchester, Midsomer Murders

[Laffy Kat]

66. MASH but St. Elsewhere is up there, too. nt

[The Figment]

67. The Carol Burnett Show

[northoftheborder]

88. For comedy and music this one is tops for me.

For drama - many of PBS series - like Masterpiece Theater, Masterpiece Mystery

[regnaD kciN]

68. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

And, no, I'm NOT being sarcastic.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

90. It's a great show (esp. the first 3 seasons)!

It never gets old. The high school years were the best!

[FrankfurtCat]

69. Absolute favorite is probably Twin Peaks, then...

Firefly
Breaking Bad
Nurse Jackie
I, Claudius
Arrested Development
Night Gallery
Kolchak, the Night Stalker was a lot of fun, for the one season it aired

[yonder]

70. There are so many good ones and this is perhaps not truly a series: The Muppet Show

It was well-rounded and could be enjoyed by both kids and us big kids too.

[nevergiveup]

71. I Love Lucy

[Stuart G]

95. Please see posts number 3 and 94.

[MrScorpio]

73. Barney Miller

Predates them all

[bif]

74. Twilight Zone & the original Star Trek.

[Paladin]

79. "West Wing," followed closely by "Breaking Bad," "Mad Men," and "Upstairs Downstairs." (nt)

[underpants]

80. Simpson's, West Wing, Arrested Development, The Office (US)

and Seinfeld

[LAS14]

81. Mash, Mary Tyler Moore, West Wing, Seinfeld and then...

... at a level down: Lewis, NYPD Blue, Sex in the City.... I'll probably have to edit this later on.

[malchickiwick]

86. 1A: Game of Thrones; 1B: Breaking Bad

Nothing else comes close, but here are my also rans:

Better Call Saul
Sopranos
The Americans
The Crown
Downton Abbey
Mad Men

Surprised to see so much love for West Wing, which had its moments but was so CORNY and unbelievable half the time. Ditto M*A*S*H.

Best TV comedies in no particular order:

The Blackadders
Flying Circuses
Fawlty Towers
In Living Color
The Office

[stonecutter357]

87. Stargate Universe !

[Proud Liberal Dem]

89. Simpsons (at least the first 9-10 Seasons)

I love to rewatch, talk about, quote several episodes. Buffy The Vampire Slayer (esp. the first 3 seasons) and Babylon 5 are other shows I rewatch frequently and reference.

[earthshine]

91. Miami Vice

I still listen to the Jan Hammer soundtracks.

I'd have said Star Trek, but it's been mentioned.

Honorable mention to Babylon 5 and Firefly.

[Grammy23]

96. Haven't seen this oldie on anyone's list.

Northern Exposure. Crazy characters and funny plot lines. The more you got to know the quirky characters, the funnier the show was. My husband really likes this one but it can be hard to find.

[LAS14]

112. Ohhh!!! Right!!! Yes, excellent. Every now and then you see the main character's actor on TV,

looking not much older. Just a little heavier. What's his name???????

[TexasBushwhacker]

99. I loved X-Files too n/t

[Kahuna7]

105. Married with Children and Sex and the City. Honorable mentions to..

Leave it to Beaver and The Beverly Hillbillies.

[The King of Prussia]

106. The World at War

[nuxvomica]

108. The original "The Forsyte Saga"

From the 60s, in black and white.

[90-percent]

110. Bakersfield P.D.

Sledge Hammer
The Julie Brown Show
The Ben Stiller Show
Workaholics
Arrested Development
Soap
Fernwood Tonight
Ernie Kovaks
Dick Cavett
Soupy Sales
Addams Family


-90%

[enid602]

111. Third Rock

Third Rock.

[LAS14]

113. Mork and Mindy. Not the greatest, but certainly worthy of mention in this thread. nt

[Niagara]

115. So many great ones for me

Life Goes on, Early Edition, Our House, The Walton's, and The Wonder Years.

The King of Queens, The Golden Girls, and Welcome Back, Kotter.

The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, American Horror Story, and the original Dark Shadows.

24, Lost, Quantum Leap, the original Beauty and the Beast with Ron Perlman.

Amazing Stories, The Twilight Zone, and Ripley's Believe It or Not.

I also enjoyed the ABC Afterschool Specials and the CBS Schoolbreak Specials.

[LAS14]

117. Yup, Wonder Years and Beauty and the Beast. nt

[Niagara]

140. +1000

[ailsagirl]

118. There are a lot, IMO

Andy Griffith Show
Dick Van Dyke Show
Frasier
Fawlty Towers
Twilight Zone
Poirot
Barney Miller
I Love Lucy is a classic, of course
The Doctor Blake Mysteries
Crazy Like a Fox
Columbo (the first couple of years)

There are more but this is what I've come up thus far

[Goodheart]

120. Best British TV shows: Black Books, The IT Crowd, Peep Show, and Spaced

All are simply BRILLIANT.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

123. IT Crowd has some of the funniest scenes I've ever seen on TV, ever.

[Goodheart]

125. "Gay the Musical"

If you haven't seen that one you haven't seen the best episode in the history of TV comedy.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

126. "Oh no! It's set in the 80s!" nt

[Goodheart]

128. You just made me burst out laughing.

[Goodheart]

121. Winner, winner, I get the chicken dinner: The Simpsons. NO CONTEST.

There are other great shows, of course.... Cheers, Friends, Seinfeld, Frazier....

Funniest stuff ever: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

[Tommy_Carcetti]

122. My top three for dramas: The Sopranos, The Wire, and Breaking Bad.

There are a fair amount of runners up that I can mention (Homicide, Better Call Saul, Game of Thrones, etc.) but those three are the pinnacle for me.

With traditional (studio audience) sitcoms, I have to go with Seinfeld. Inherently quotable, relatable and timeless humor.

Non-traditional comedies, I might put the original run of Arrested Development at the top. (Not including the two seasons on Netflix which sadly just don't measure up.)

Obscure honorable mention: The Adventures of Pete and Pete--a Nickelodeon show from the 90s. Unlike any show starring kids aimed at kids that you've ever seen and probably will ever see. Still holds up beautifully.

[geardaddy]

124. I definitely have Monty Python and Fawlty Towers in my top 10 list!

I would also say MASH, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and the Twilight Zone.

[jpak]

127. All in the Family

Meatheads

[Bradshaw3]

129. Deadwood, Breaking Bad and GoT

Keep changing my mind about the order.

[Salviati]

131. Best show that you probably haven't watched:

Person of Interest. Starts out as what seems like a normal procedural with a unique gimmick, but evolves into so much more. It's got smart characters who are never forced into holding the idiot ball for the sake of the plot, and every time it seems like they are, it's because you don't know the whole story yet.

Best show that is on right now that you're not watching:
Counterpart - A show with the tone of a cold war spy thriller with some low key sci-fi in it's DNA starring JK Simmons and JK Simmons to give it that extra jolt of awesome.

(Meaning "you" in the general sense here. Both are shows that I have evangelized about to people I know, but everyone who I know who watches or watched, does so because I told them about it...)

[whathehell]

133. Best drama -- China Beach. Best comedy -- Seinfeld.

That said, I also loved the Britsh series, Inspector Morse.

[Leith]

134. Here are a few, most of which have been mentioned already

West Wing
St. Elsewhere
Boston Legal
MASH - after Trapper left
Star Trek and spin-offs
Doctor Who
Dexter
Twilight Zone
Firefly
Scrubs


I'm a great fan of British panel shows. If you like watching professional comedians wisecracking and playing off each other about certain topics, they are terrific. AND they are available on YouTube:
Would I Lie to You

QI (short for "Quite Interesting; put in "Stephen Fry QI" or you'll never find it)

[Goodheart]

136. Scrubs doesn't get its due.

Certainly one of the greatest. Best thing to ever stream on Netflix.

And what was particularly interesting was that my medical professional friends would tell me that the medicine on Scrubs the Comedy was more accurate than on Grey's Anatomy the Drama.

[TlalocW]

135. Toss up between Chico and the Man and Manimal!

Just kidding.

We all know it's Mystery Science Theater 3000.

TlalocW

[kairos12]

137. The Prisoner--Patrick McGoohan.

[retread]

138. Sanford and Son n/t

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

141. A TIE between The Wire AND Freaks and Geeks (the one and only season) IMHO a great series has to

be judged in totality, come to a satisfying conclusion, and cant have too many seasons of a lot of pointless plot twists thrown in just to keep milking the cash cow.

There are too many series which have brilliant first 1 or 2 seasons but then go downhill like the writers cant figure out where to go with it - Lost, Sherlock, X-Files, Downton Abbey fit in this category, alas.

[Dem2theMax]

142. Homicide: Life On The Street

That one is my absolute favorite of all time. Everyone has listed a lot of my other favorites, so no need to mention them.

[sakabatou]

143. It may have only lasted 26 episodes, but one of them is Cowboy Bebop

[DFW]

144. Bar none: Liebling Kreuzberg

A German series about a smart, lazy, unambitious city lawyer in West Berlin in the 1980s with mundane, believable cases and co-workers. He liked to camp out on the sofa in his office, smoke cigars and eat green jello. We used to LIVE for that series.

Besides that, a two way tie between 2 Sorkin Series: West Wing and The Newsroom.

[mithnanthy]

145. Hercule Poirot is my favorite...by Agatha Christie

The mysteries , the beautiful scenery, the acting by David Suchet...I have the complete collection (70 episodes). I never get tired of them.

[The Polack MSgt]

146. Ultraman

Ultra man 7, Ultraman Leo , Ultraman Ace , Ultraman Taro, Ultraman Tiga

ALL THE ULTRAMANS

[red dog 1]

147. I don't know about "greatest" TV series ever, however, I do have "favorites"

My "favorite" dramatic TV series is probably Breaking Bad

I'm unable to pick only one "favorite" TV comedy, I have several

- All in the family
- Soap
- WKRP
- Sanford & Son
- Seinfeld
- Fawlty Towers